The invention relates to a bucket for a front end loader and to a method for transporting buckets for front end loaders. More particularly, the bucket includes a tapered configuration that allows multiple buckets having the same configuration to be stacked for transportation and provides benefits for handling certain types of loads.
Buckets for material handling equipment are fairly conventional. Exemplary prior art buckets are described by U.S. Pat. No. 2,326,338 to Drott et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,812,595 to Drott et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,999 to Svoboda, U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,474 to Artman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,905 to Ulrich, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,085 to Andersen et al.
A bucket for a front end loader is provided. The bucket includes a floor, a back wall, a left sidewall, and a right sidewall. The floor includes a floor leading edge, a floor trailing edge, a floor left edge, and a floor right edge. The back wall includes a back wall leading edge, a back wall trailing edge, a back wall left edge and a back wall right edge. The left sidewall extends along the left edges of the floor and the back wall, and the right sidewall extends along the right edges of the floor and the back wall. Preferably, the bucket includes a bottom wall extending between the floor trailing edge and the back wall trailing edge. The bucket can be characterized as having a tapered construction. This means that the lengths of the floor leading edge and the back wall leading edge are greater than the lengths of the floor trailing edge and the back wall trailing edge, respectively. Preferably, the difference in length is sufficient to allow buckets having the same configuration to be stacked for transportation. The tapered construction is preferably provided so that the lengths of the floor leading edge and the back wall leading edge are greater than the lengths of the floor trailing edge and the back wall trailing edge by at least about 0.5 inch, more preferably at least about 1 inch, and even more preferably at 2 inches. Preferably, the difference in length is based upon a bucket having a depth of 20 inches. Accordingly, the bucket can have a depth that is greater or smaller than 20 inches, and the pitch or slope of the edges can be based upon a depth of 20 inches.
A method for transporting a plurality of buckets for front end loaders is provided according to the invention. The method includes a step of providing a plurality of buckets having a tapered configuration and stacking the plurality of buckets.